top of the hour. good afternoon, everyone. i'm deborah feyerick live from cnn's world headquarters in atlanta. and as i speak, in deal yet on the fiscal cliff, but a big but, it appears lawmakers may be getting just a bit closer. >> and i'm joe johns live from washington where just moments ago the president encouraged lawmakers to cross the finish line. it was a compromise u.s. lawmakers signed into law in 2011 that contributed to the pending man made catastrophe that they have been warning about for more than a year. now, as the new year's deadline approaches, the fiscal cliff may be moving to a later date, in 2013. it is part of a possible deal that is forming at this hour. this, of course, represents the $3.6 trillion the u.s. government spent last year, unless congress reaches a deal

when the new year hits. so too will the fiscal cliff. $600 billion worth of tax increases and spending cuts. it is supposed to be automatic. but now republicans are suggesting a delay, the president just spoke trying to add pressure to congress to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. listen. >> my preference would have been to solve all these problems in the context of a larger agreement, a bigger deal, a grand bargain, whatever you want to call it, that solves our deficit problems in a balanced and responsible way that doesn't just deal with the taxes, but deals with the spending in a balanced way, so that we can put all this behind us focusing on growing our economy. but with this congress, that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time. >> let's turn now to chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. let's talk a little bit about the outlines of the deal, the fact that the president came out to make his case and try to push

this thing over the finish line. what does the white house have to do to gain the backing it needs. >> reporter: well, what we heard from the president today just now was really an emphasis that there are a lot of components here for democrats to like because their focus especially is on making sure that -- because i should say democrats really need to come out in force for this to get across the finish line. what you asked is also what is in this measure. tax increase or taxes to -- would go back to the clinton levels for people who make $400,000 a year, or households that make $450,000 a year. and there would be an extension of unemployment benefits for some 2 million americans. we would see an increase in the estate tax, but not an absolute increase to what it was going to be. and they're still working out whether or not there will be a

delay in these jump -- these big spending cuts. now, this is -- a lot of this is a big democratic win and the reason we're seeing such a democratic win is because they do need so many democratic votes. especially in the house of representatives, for this to succeed. there are spending cuts in this that would still be included in order to get republicans on their -- on the team. and that hasn't been detailed. why? because it was the president talking to democrats. we have to hear from the republican side, joe, to get the republican spin on what is in the package. there is a lot more to talk about from the president's perspective, a lot of people are asking me who is behind him, but i'll let you ask me the questions. >> absolutely. great. well, what we want to do now is go over to capitol hill and talk to dana bash just a little bit because as we know, when these big deals among leadership get announced, there is still the active job of selling it to the rank and file, both the democrats and the republicans,

and, dana, i'll ask you directly, are you hearing from anyone who is saying anything about whether this thing will fly in the house and the senate? >> reporter: obviously it will start in the senate, that's where we'll first see if the votes are there. as i was saying to wolf before, it is very hard to imagine at this late day and this late hour that harry reid and mitch mcconnell will agree to anything that won't get a majority of votes in both of their caucuses. but then the next move is obviously going to be the house, which is where i am right now. i'm with a republican member of the house, darrell issa. thank you for joining us. can you react to what the president said? >> i think i'm pleased there may be a deal, bring some certainty to the american people. i'm disappointed that the president took the eve of what might be a bipartisan deal to take a swipe at congress once again. i think the president fails to understand what senator barroso said repeatedly, which is it is

a failure of leadership that we're in this boat. having said that, i think all of us would like to have certainty for the american people come january 1st. >> reporter: and obviously goes without saying, excuse me, that the president, in your words, took a swipe, because there say lot of frustration, among democrats, with house republicans. they think house republicans held this up for a long time and demanding more spending cuts than could pass. >> you know, the amazing thing is we're not going to -- we weren't asking for that many spending cuts, we're not going to get that many spending cuts. even if we were to go back to the clinton taxes, and essentially let us go over the cliff, we still have about $500 billion worth of deficit due to this 100% growth in spending under president bush and president obama. and i think republicans ask for less than they should have, we're going to have to ask for more in the way of spending cuts because once we do this very small, large increase on the wealthy, but small amount of revenue, we have to come back again. and i think the middle class has

to understand that you can only get so much from the rich when they're already going to be paying over 55% on their ordinary income come next year, at least in my state of california. there is going to be a limit how much you can do. ultimately all taxes end up being paid disproportionately for the middle class. >> are you going to vote for this? >> i haven't seen the bill yet. >> would you vote for tax increases or tax cuts up to 450,000? >> i said aultimately i'll finda way to support something to bring to the american people. i think this bill will have too few cuts and will depend on a small amount of people that candidly don't represent enough money to bring a real fix to our trillion dollar deficit. >> thank you very much for joining us. appreciate it. back to you. >> dana bash, there with chairman issa, thanks so much for that. now we'll throw back to deb in atlanta. >> thanks so much, john. we want to go to the -- to the floor there. the senator from tennessee, bob corker, ribbing the president

and chastising him for what he just calls his press conference. let's listen for a moment. >> without objection. >> mr. president -- >> senator from maryland. >> mr. president, i rise to speak on behalf of what is going on here today as the new chair of the -- >> okay, so tax hikes, it looks like tax hikes instead of affecting 98% of all americans will affect only the 5% of top earners. does that mean everybody is free and clear? not exactly. tomorrow, your paycheck will likely shrink. and that's with or without the fiscal cliff. that's because the payroll tax cut expires at midnight. right now, it does not look as if congress plans to extend it. the 4.2% you pay into social security will now go up to 6.2% of your salary. lawmakers have been so consumed by the fiscal cliff that it appears little was done to extend the 2010 payroll tax cuts, put in place by president obama two years ago in order to boost the economy. so what does it mean to your

wallet? here is how much less you'll bring home if it expires. paychecks shrink $50 a month for those earning $30,000 a year. it shrinks $83 a month for those earning $50,000 a year. and $167 a month for those earning $100,000 a year. now, let's switch to the fiscal cliff. and what that is going to cost you. without a deal, you'll be paying lots more in tachxes. say you're single and working hard, you don't have kids, you earn $80,000 a year. if it does not go into effect, you'll pay an additional $3,000 more than what you already pay in taxes. the middle class families will get hit harder, two kids, both parents work. together you earn $80,000 a year. guess what, if there is no deal, you would owe $6,000 more in

taxes next year. with so many variables, the question is how is wall street reacting? the stock market dipped every day last week. question is, what is next? alison kosik is there for us at the new york stock exchange. alison, business leaders fed up with the lack of progress. but now that they say a deal is in sight, a good thing, how are investors reacting to congress', well, ineffectiveness, let's say. >> exactly. so this is definitely a market day where it is reacting to all these headlines coming out. we saw the market go up a bit when news came out that the president was going to speak and then as he walked out, saw the market jump, talking about the dow, up 100 points, then started talking a little more. then you saw the numbers on the dow fall back more. there is one little sentence he had in there, that kind of spooked investors. he said, we're going to do it in stages. we're going to do this in steps meaning a fiscal cliff deal.

the question for the market at this point is how much of a deal will come out of this, will it be a partial going over the cliff, or will it be -- will it be one of the band-aid measures that wall street wasn't hoping for. with one of these sort of half deals or partial deals, what wall street winds up getting is more question marks. not really some -- solid rules of the road that continue getting this uncertainty about where taxes may be. so, you know, we are seeing the dow up right now 47 points. but the dow is off its highs of the session, simply because it doesn't look like it is going to be a full deal as far as investors feel that they think it is going to be more of a band aid measure. >> like a series of mood swings and the american public wants to know where they stand. that's pretty much the bottom line. let me ask, the form bill, another big concern, top congressional leaders say they have reached a deal. but yet to vote on an extension. if congress fails to act, well, an impact at the grocery store, people will be paying more for milk and now that they're getting more taken out of their paychecks, that's going to hurt

too, right? >> right. what this is being called is the dairy cliff. the agricultural secretary said over the weekend if congress fails to do something, consumers will have to face this big spike in what they pay for milk and other dairy products, so i'm talking about $7 or more for a gallon of milk. your eyes pop out. what would happen is the government's dairy subsidy expires in the new year. if a new bill isn't passed or the most recent one isn't extended, the formula that is used for calculating what the government pays for those products defaults all the way back to a 1949 statute and what that would wind up doing is forcing the government to buy milk at twice today's prices, which would then be passed on to consumers. most experts don't think that's likely to happen. but clearly this vote really needs to happen soon. this is a big worry for consumers. >> i think people are holding on pretty tightly to their wallets these days. alison kosik, thanks so much. joe, take it away. coming up next, you've heard how vice president joe biden is becoming a major part of these

negotiations behind closed doors. we're going to take a closer look at that. plus, hillary clinton's health scare. dr. sanjay gupta tells us her prognosis and it depends where the blood clot is. that's coming up.

joe johns here in washington, d.c. where we are following the fiscal cliff

negotiations. we just heard from the president of the united states here in washington, saying that a deal is within sight, but it is not done. he urged his supporters to keep the heat on congress until it's done. he focused among other things the fact that this deal would extend tax credits for families, extend the tuition tax credit and other things. also expressed concerns about cuts to social spending, which have not yet been worked out. so we're following all of that, and waiting to hear more about these outlines of a deal that have started to emerge. deb, back to you in atlanta. >> joe, also said that he would prefer to have done a grand bargain, but he's willing to take right now what he can get. late last night, when talks seemed to have broken down, vice president joe biden swooped in to help get them restarted. biden took an urgent call from mitch mcconnell, and the two agreed to plow forward again today. keep in mind this is the same joe biden who brokered a deal to avert the debt ceiling crisis in

july of 2011. and the deal that emerged then essentially paved the road to today's fiscal crisis. joining us from new york, john avalon and, john, would it be accurate to say that vice president biden and whatever senator republicans he was talking to, they're essentially scrambling to undo that emergency compromise that biden helped engineer in 2011? >> well, look, i think the key point here is that it reminds us how much politics is people. it is people in a room. and the rapport between the people makes all the difference in the world. and the fact that joe biden, part of the wisdom his selection and the logic behind it is here is a guy from washington for over 30 years and that reservoir of goodwill he bought, even mitch mcconnell, the two decades they served together in the senate, can bear fruit at times like this. the negotiations between harry reid and mitch mcconnell hit an impasse. mcconnell called biden. they were apparently able to

break that impasse by reasoning together. that's the way our democracy works at the end of the day, when it works, people being reasonable in a room together based on a reservoir of trust. and that's an asset biden brings to the table. >> john, you talk about being reasonable, you would think that congress, a room full of lawmakers, they know how to negotiate, they know how to take baby steps so each side at least feels they're getting a little bit of what they want. can -- why did they have to call biden in at the last minute? why didn't they call him earlier? why are we here today on the last day of december? why couldn't this have been done weeks ago? >> deb, we're here at the last day of december in the final hours because of a culture of division and dysfunction in washington, d.c. and it didn't happen overnight. it has been created over a long time, because the polarization of the two parties, the system of redistricting that reduced the number of swing districts to one-third what they were 20 years ago, so the incentive structure that exists for the

members of congress, particularly the house of representatives, isn't to reach out across the aisle. they're looking over their shoulder afraid they're going to get primaried in the next election. that makes it more important to make a deal. that is why we are here in a lame duck session in the final days of the year. it is frustrating. it should infuriate the american people who do better every day at their own job, finding ways to work with people with whom they have differences, but the important thing in these final hours is that we do get some kind of a deal. it will be a political patch. the important point here is this is not a grand bargain that will solve the issues of deficit and debt. this time bomb that the congress created was designed to deal with deficit and the debt. we won't get that right now. but we might get a plan to deal with taxes, to avoid the fiscal cliff, that's a win for the economy and the american people. >> john, it is joe johns in washington, d.c. we have heard so much about tax increases and how they're going to handle those and not so much about the spending cuts and my question to you is at the end of the day, are we going to end up

essentially with some type of a plan that could add to the federal deficit instead of reduce it? >> you noticed that, huh? sequester hasn't really been the topic of much conversation. look, that is still unclear right now. obviously, again, the point of all of this, the reason that over 500 days ago we set the fiscal cliff with regard to the spending cuts and knew the bush tax cuts were expiring ten years ago on this date, that was an impetus to create bargain to deal with deficit and debt. what seems to be coming together now is largely, as you said, a planned focused on taxes. not just the tough tax rates, but the estate tax, the amt, something semi comprehensive. as the president said in his press conference a short while ago, the longer issue to deal with deficits and debt, which will require entitlement reform, tax reform, that can is being kicked. being kicked to february when

the debt ceiling is set to sink in again. unfortunately while we can all be relieved that it appears there are the seeds of a deal on taxes, that will avoid the fiscal cliff, in terms of the larger problem of deficit and debt, we still have that debt ceiling out in mid-february, late february and that's when there is going to be a -- try to be an attempt to create a grand bargain again to deal with the more difficult problems that are essential to the long-term stability of the economy. >> john avalon, thanks so much for that. good to hear from you. to the senate floor now where we get the first reactions apparently to the president's remarks. that is senator john mccain there. let's listen to him. >> -- sit around the table and do the negotiations and the discussions and they are sometimes concessions have to be made. compromises have to be made. so what did the president of the united states just do? well, he kind of made fun, he made a couple of jokes, laughed about how people are going to be here for new year's, sent a

message of confrontation to the republicans. i believe he said if they think they're going to do that, then they have got another thought coming. i guess i have to wonder and i think the american people have to wonder whether the president really wants this issue resolved or is it to his short term political benefit for us to go over the cliff? i can assure the president of the united states, i can assure him that historians judge presidents by their achievements. we all read the polls. we all, republicans, know what is in the polls. and that is the majority of the american people, 50 some percent, support the -- approve of the president of the united states. we also see the approval ratings of congress. 10, 11, 12, 9, 15%, whatever it is. i haven't seen one that high lately. but historians judge presidents

by what happens on their watch. and for the president to go out and make comments, which clearly, which clearly will antagonize members of the house, we are a bicameral government here, and clearly antagonize them, because once we get an agreement and i appreciate the negotiations that have been going on here in the senate between the majority leader and republican leader, the fact is that whatever is done and whatever is agreed to has to be ratified by the house of representatives. men and women who were elected on the premise, promising their constituents that they wouldn't raise taxes. now, whether they should have made that commitment or not, whether that was the right thing to do, the fact is that that's what they said. so the president basically in

his talk to whoever it is, the group of people he is talking to who were laughing and cheering and applauding, as we are on the brink of this collapse, of this incredible problem -- >> senator john mccain of arizona there, of course, the former standard bearer for the republican party and the election before last reacting to the president's comments today indicating that in his view the president may have actually clearly antagonized members of the house of representatives. that, of course, is the place where they'll have to vote on any deal after the senate gets a first crack on it. so that's senator john mccain questioning whether the president should have said what he said. deb? >> the republicans sounding a lot less optimistic than the president there who is certainly speaking to a captive audience. all right, well, first a stomach virus. then a concussion. now secretary of state hillary clinton is hospitalized with a blood clot.

our dr. sanjay gupta tells us how it is being treated. for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip.

secretary of state hillary clinton is being treated at new york presbyterian hospital for a blood clot. the clot was discovered during a follow-up exam for the concussion she suffered last month. there are few details, but the state department has said mrs. clinton would stay in the hospital for at least 48 hours. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has more on the likely causes of her medical setback. >> we don't know exactly where this blood clot is. they say it is somewhere in her body, related to the concussion. but there is a key point here. and that is that they decided to treat this with blood thinners, anti-coagulants.

that's important because if this were a blood clot sitting on top of the brain, because of a -- because of the brain injury, the concussion, blood thinners would be the last thing you want to do. it could worsen the bleeding and would prevent her from having a operation if it is necessary. again, no one is saying that's the case here. but blood clots that are treated with blood thinners or anti-coagulants are typically ones found in the blood vessels, veins specifically. you may have heard of a deep vein thrombosis that can form in the leg. that can be concerning because it can break off and go to the lung known as a pulmonary embow lym embowlism. we know she's probably getting blood thinning medications, they're going to make sure she's well hydrated, up and walking around. this is a common thing. for the secretary of state, it is actually more so because they had this before in 1998. we'll keep an eye on things, deb if more things to come us, we'll bring them to you.

>> thanks so much, sanjay. more on our special coverage of the fast moving negotiations over the fiscal cliff. up next, hear why one high profile democrat says going over the cliff would be good for the stock market. and your 401(k). check this out. 

a compromise on the estate tax may be part of a last minute deal in the fiscal cliff. we're talking about how much money you can leave for your loved ones after you die. republicans want to extend the current estate tax that tops out at 35% and affects the states.

the outline of the deal that just has been floated together would set the estate tax at 40% and the threshold at $5 million. let's bring christine romans in to make sense out of all of this. what do the numbers mean to real people? >> what it means, it is a victory politically for republicans and it means many republicans have said for a small business owner, small family farmers, people who have worked hard and amassed an estate, it means that they won't have to pay much more than they currently do for an estate tax. this is a true compromise here. because this is what you have now. this is -- you have on estates larger than $5 million and change, you have a 35% tax rate on the size of the estate above $5 million. if we went over the cliff, the demographic to show you, this if we went over the cliff, you'll see an estate tax of 55% on the part of the estate that is

larger than a million dollars. the compromise here is a 40% estate tax with 5 -- the first $5 million of the estate exempt. so a real win here for republicans who were worried about the estate tax reverting to the $1 million exemption at 55% rate. >> now, can you just sort of explain -- can you sort of explain to people what the estate tax is, why it has been called the death tax and why republicans over years have just fought tooth and nail to try to reduce this thing. >> because republicans say it rewards success. this is something we have heard again and again about the capital gains taxes, and other taxes on investments, they say it rewards success. people like warren buffett and others who are on the left side of the argument, they say, look, living in this country is -- the -- this country has given them the ingredients to be successful, and, you know, should have to give back for that. there are two very different philosophies about the estate

tax. at least here, in the beginnings of the frameworks of the still moving target that is this deal, let's be clear about that, looks like 40% and $5 million, a slight increase in the estate tax, but it wouldn't be as bad as republicans had feared if we went over the cliff. >> there is also that question of just being able to send what you've made in your lifetime as an inheritance on to your next generation or giving it to the government, right? >> that's exactly what it is. it is a fight they have had sort of -- this is a perennial fight the estate -- the death tax. even the language used about is is very coded language. but what republicans have long said is that the estate tax is something -- the death tax, whatever you want to call it, is something that punishes success. >> and when it comes to keeping your money, that's what everybody wants, they want to work, they want to make money, they want to keep as much as they possibly can, but here's something that is a little bit surprising. some politicians are saying that plunging over the cliff,

actually staying there, might be great for the stock market. just quickly take a listen to howard dean. >> i predict ultimately if we go over the cliff and stay over the cliff, six months from now the dow will be at 15,000. you know why? the biggest uncertainty in the market is not taxes and blah, blah, blah, it is the size of the deficit. if you go over the cliff, you've done something for first time really serious about the deficit. all of a sudden the financial horizons look pretty good. >> so, christine you listen to that, what is your reaction, would a cliff dive be greeted enthusiastically on wall street? >> i wish i could do the dean scream, right? >> either one, yeah. >> that's not a main street are view. mainstream or main street view on what is happening on wall street. all the people i've talked -- every person i talked to who is putting money on the line for clients or money on the line for themselves in the market saying that you got to have the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff out of the way and you have to have real solid progress toward deficit reduction.

look, the irony here is that the crazier congress acts, the more destabilizing it is for the world and the more people rush their money into u.s. treasuries. for the safety -- making it cheaper to borrow more money. we're in this very weird, weird moment here. howard dean is the first person i've heard to say that you would have the dow at 15,000 if we went over the cliff. what most people want is to get the cliff out of the way, show serious progress toward a real budget agreement between these two parties, and get -- move forward with serious deficit reduction, but don't hurt the economy in the near term. >> get everything in line. christine romans, thanks so much. we'll get back to you. well, we're still hours away from our new year's countdown in the u.s. people around the world are already celebrating. this is victoria harbor in hong kong. organizers say this year's

fireworks display was the biggest one they have ever had. and check this out. that's sydney, australia, one of the first cities to see in the new year. known for having one of the most spectacular fireworks displays in the world. the skies above the famous harbor bridge lighting up with about seven tons of fireworks. back across the pacific, a countdown is already on for the stroke of midnight in new york's times square. you're looking at a test run of the traditional new year's eve ball drop. people finding a reason to be happy and celebrate, despite the saga playing out in washington. and if you don't have plans to go out, of course you can always join us here. anderson cooper, comedian kathy griffin live from new york. and, of course, our brooke baldwin in new orleans. they ring in the new year with all of us, cnn's special coverage starts at 10:00 eastern. hi, my name is lieutenant

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say. >> the terrorists essentially walked into the compound, virtually unimpeded, and set it ablaze due to extremely poor security, in a threat environment that the undersecretary of state, patrick kennedy himself, has conceded was flashing red. >> the committee also found the department relied too heavily on libyan security guards who were known to be unreliable. this report comes after a similar scathing assessment by an independent state department board which led to top security official and three others at the department stepping down. >> and a charter bus crashed in northern oregon killed nine people and injured least 26 more. the bus skidded on ice, crashed through a guardrail and tumbled several hundred feet down a steep e steep embankment.

the driver hasn't spoken to authorities. he was severely injured in the crash. the body of newtown school gunman adam lanza has been claimed by his father. connecticut's chief medical examiner says lanza's body is ready for burial, more than two weeks after he opened fire on children at sandy hook elementary. lanza killed 26 people, including 20 children and his mother before taking his own life. the second firefighter killed in a christmas eve ambush has been laid to rest. ♪ 19-year-old thomas kaczowka was on duty that morning so those with young children could have the holiday off. his obituary describes him as everyone's little brother who died doing what he loved. his comrade, lieutenant mike chiapperini was laid to rest on

sunday. the family said they're asking people to do acts of service in his honor. they were shot and killed while battling an out of control house fire, set by the gunman. her brutal beating and gang rape on a new delhi bus sparked mass protests across india. now the young woman they're calling lightning has been creme mated. the 23-year-old medical student died in singapore where she had been taken for treatment after the attack early this month. six suspects are charged with her murder and politicians in india are calling for the chemical castration of the sex offenders. venezuelan president hugo chavis is suffering from new complications as he recovers from cancer surgery. his vice president announced the medical setback after visiting the 58-year-old in cuba. he has been fighting a respiratory infection. no word yet on whether he'll be able to rush return to his country for the start of a new

six-year term on january 10th. up next, one senator says he's got an idea that can help ease the pain if we go over the fiscal cliff. hear his plan and whether it has got a chance.

joe johns in washington,

d.c. here where we're keeping an eye on the fiscal cliff negotiations. the president of the united states spoke a little while ago, saying among other things a deal is within sight, but not yet done. he's also been accused by some republicans of picking a fight, with the gop over on the house side. we'll have to see how all of that plays out. joining us now from washington is senator joe manchin, the democrat of west virginia. he's introduced a bill to phase in the looming tax increase rather than force taxpayers to feel it full force right away. thanks for joining us, senator. before we get to your proposal, let's talk a little bit about the emerging framework of a deal, source close to the negotiations telling cnn we're talking about a threshold, of preserving the bush tax cuts at $450,000 per family, with the cap of 39.6% on the rate. there are also caps on itemized deductions in there. a ceiling on the estate tax at 40%. can you live with all of this? do you think your colleagues will be able to?

>> well, we're going to be in caucus, i think, sometime this afternoon, joe. and with that we just have to see it all. i heard just what you described. and, you know, right now it is getting down to the 11th hour as you know. and they're saying that -- i guess any deal is better than no deal. we have got some democrats saying a bad deal is worse than is going over the cliff is better than a bad deal. you have republicans on the same end of that. i think everybody knows the cliff is very dangerous for all of us. we should be able to avoid that. it is a shame it has gotten to this. it has. i saw it coming a couple of weeks ago. i could tell things weren't gelling the way they should have. and i was concerned about that. and we'll get into what i talked about, which is the comeback. but the bottom line is i'll do everything i can to avoid going over the cliff. if the markets react unfavorably, if interest rates go up, everybody is affected and much more drastic way than what they're going to be. >> can you talk a little bit now about your own proposal?

is it a fail safe measure to try to cushion the blow of higher taxes? just how would it work? >> joe, basically what it was is exactly what is going to happen with the cliff hits tonight. so-called -- the bush tax credit will all go away, and we have back to the rates across the board, of bill clinton's tax rates that we had, and some people argue that was most prosperous time of our country. with that being said, we would go back to the rates we had prior to 2001. also, the sequestering kicks in too, which is across the board cuts, half of it coming from the defense, half of it from the domestic spending. and also just cuts everybody. and what we're saying there is a better way of doing this, if we're going to go over the cliff, can we smooth it over three years, that means the clinton tax rates coming back not all at one time. and example would be this. if you're on the lowest end of income tax bracket, and you're paying 10%, right now, if we go over the cliff, you'll be paying

15% next year. if we're going to smooth that over three years, that means you go up 1.6% to 11.6. and proportionately in all other income brackets. to me, that's a better way to smooth it. the other thing is if you take the cuts, should the cuts come all across the board, or discretionary through omb? i think that's a better way. >> okay. okay. senator, thanks so much. good talking to you. we want to go over to the senate floor where you work, by the way. there is the republican leader mitch mcconnell talking about a deal. he said they're very close. >> we are very, very close. as the president just said, the most important piece, the piece that has to be done now, is preventing the tax hikes. president said, quote, for now our most immediate priority is to stop taxes going up from middle class families starting tomorrow, end quote. i agree.

he suggested that action on the sequester is something we continue to work on in the coming months. so i agree. let's pass the tax relief portion now. let's take what's been agreed to and get moving. let me say this was not easy to get to. i mean, the vice president and i last spoke about yesterday about 12:45 this morning and then again at 6:30 this morning and multiple times here in the day this morning, this has been clearly a good faith negotiation. we all want to protect taxpayers and we can get it done now. right now. so let me be clear. we'll continue to work on finding smarter ways to cut spending, but let's not let that hold up protecting americans from the tax hike that will take place in about ten hours.

ten hours from now. we can do this. we must do this. i want my colleagues to know that we'll keep everybody updated as we continue to try to wrap this up. i yield the floor. >> so very much ongoing. well, if you have children, you need to listen up. there are four things about the fiscal cliff that you need to know about. we're talking tax credits that keep money in your wallet. will they disappear? or have they been negotiated at last? through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ i wish my patients could see what i see. ♪ that over time, having high cholesterol and any of these risk factors can put them at increased risk for plaque buildup

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all you parents out there may be in a huge bind without the fiscal cliff deal paying for child care, or college. four tax breaks would shrivel overnight. the president has suggested this they may have reached some agreement. cnnmoney.com personal financial reporter blake ellis is tracking the potential impact on parents and families. blake, what is so interesting to me is that this was really hitting families and the middle class, a married couple with two kids owing an extra thousand dollars in taxes for the child tax credit. explain what that means. >> reporter: yes, deb. well, everyone's talking about taxes on the rich, millions of middle class and low income

families could be hit really hard if a series of tax breaks for families aren't extended. like the child tax credit that you just mentioned. right now it gives families $1,000 per child as a tax credit. and that's scheduled to be cut in half to $500 next year. so that means for a family with two children, they could lose -- they could stand to lose about $1,000 next year. >> you know, it is so interesting because the changes are so subtle and with everybody so consumed and focused on, you know, the fiscal cliff, this is one of those things that sort of was on the back burner, discussion preempted on this. but paying for college also. that could get much harder as well, though the president seems to suggest that maybe there has been some development there. the low income parents, what is at stake. >> reporter: well, definitely th that's a huge one. the american opportunity tax

credit is scheduled to revert to the hope credit. and right now the american opportunity tax credit gives families a big break on college costs and helps a lot of families afford college. and that's scheduled to drop by hundreds of dollars next year. so that would hit many families trying to afford college really hard. >> and clearly all of these different tax credits, not just the child care, but child independent care and earned income tax credit, all of that helping middle class and low income families be raised above the poverty line. blake ellis, thanks so much. joe? >> all right then. up next, pink slips are being handed out in the nfl at a record pace. coaches and general managers are being told to get out of town. you're going to hear some surprises. [ all ] 3, 2, 1...

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sunday marks the end of the nfl's regular season and the day after usually isn't too kind to head coaches on losing teams. but even a winning record can't guarantee job security. yes, it has absolutely been a firing frenzy today on the nfl's so-called black monday. seven coaches got their pink slips, most before 11:00 eastern time. the most shocking, i think to all of us, was chicago bears head coach lovie smith. he's getting the boot after nine seasons, including a trip to the super bowl. his team finished 10-6, but missed the playoffs. bears quarterback jay cutler got the news during a live radio

show. the kansas city chiefs parted ways with romeo crennel after his team struggled through two-win season that was marred by the murder/suicide involving linebacker jovan belcher. other notable names, andy reid, chan gailey, ken whisenhunt, pat shurmur, norv turner, front office jobs aren't safe either today. the jets, cardinals, chargers, jaguars and browns all let their general managers go. top of the hour. hey, everyone. happy new year to you all. i'm deb feyerick live from cnn's world headquarters in atlanta. >> i'm joe johns live from washington. the world's watching to see if congress reaches a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. and within the last hour, the president said a deal is, quote, within sight and that he himself is willing to make hard choices to avoid $600 billion in

automatic spending cuts and tax hikes. >> i'm willing to reduce our government's medicare bills by finding new ways to reduce the costs of healtcare in this country. that's something we all should agree on. we want to make sure that medicare is there for future generations. but the current trajectory of health care costs is going up so high, we have got to find ways to make sure that it is sustainable. but, that kind of reform has to go hand and hand with doing some more work to reform our tax coat so that wealthy individuals, the biggest corporations, can't take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren't available to most of the folks standing up here. aren't available to most americans. so there is still more work to be done in the tax code to make it fair, even as we're also looking at how we can strengthen something like medicare. now, if republicans think that i

will finish the job of deficit reduction through spending cuts alone, if they think that's going to be the formula for how we solve this thing, then they got another thing coming. >> let's go to chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. jessica, the president made sure he was flanked by middle class taxpayers while he was speaking. what was the administration trying to get across today with this appearance? >> reporter: hi, joe. well, it was in large part to encourage democrats in congress to believe that they're getting a good deal if this negotiation should resolve itself today and encourage them to take it and live to fight again another day for the rest of their priorities and get what they want in the next fight because there will be one when they come up against the debt ceiling, for example, in just a few months. as you point out, he was flanked by middle class americans, people who will see their taxes go up if there is no deal. and he made the case that he --

he's gotten for democrats many, many concessions from republicans, many of their priorities are in this package. now, republicans, i should point out, believe that some of his comments were rather partisan. in particular the remark that republicans want to see them take their spending and republicans can take their spending and shove it. and so there is a little bit of upset about that up on capitol hill today. the president also saying that he is president for the next four years. so what you see going on is sort of two-pronged battle. on the one hand, the white house working to negotiate a deal. on the other hand, the white house working to fight the pr war in case there is no deal and shift the blamen to republicans for failure in case this thing collapses, joe. >> always important to get in place in case there is a blame

game. thanks so much. jessica yellin. deb? the president is sounding confident, almost defiant, but some republicans are saying the president's statements are putting the talks happening today possibly in jeopardy. here's senator bob corker from tennessee. >> madam president, i just listened to the president. and my heart's still pounding. it is very disappointing to hear what the president just had to say in front of a pep rally. something very unbecoming of where we are at this moment. i just heard the president say that the way we're going to deal with this sequester is in a balanced way through revenues and through reduced spending. and i just want to go on record, here on the senate floor, i know there are negotiations taking

place, but the sequester was to be dealt with, substituted with other spending reductions, not through revenues. and i just hope that all those who are involved in bringing this together understand that even on the democratic side, that that was the understanding. i know the president has fun heckling congress. i think he lost probably numbers of votes with what he did. didn't lose mine. i'm not that way. i'm going to look at the substance, but it is unfortunate that he doesn't spend as much time working on solving problems as he does with campaigns and pep rallies. but i just want to say, i'm very disappointed in what the president had to say. >> we now just sort of went to reset the table and talk about the proposal that we're looking at. it includes higher taxes for top earners, taxes would revert to clinton era rates for households that make more than $450,000 a year or individuals who make

more than $400,000. however, that nugget is already immediate metie in meeting resi the senate floor. listen. >> the tax side that lets those most privileged in our society continue to not pay their fair -- their -- i think the share that they should be paying, that's not a good deal. that's not fair. that's not equitable. that's not just. >> let's go now to senior congressional correspondent dana bash. >> reporter: just moments ago after the two senators spoke, he was on the senate floor and came out and said we can do this, we must do this. he said for the first time formally, publicly what we have been reporting, that he and the vice president have, in fact, agreed on the tax portions of this fiscal cliff deal, specifically what you just put up there, most importantly perhaps the tax rate issue.

and he is trying to get the senate to just vote on that. the outstanding issue still is -- seems to be according to sources on both parties, joe, seems to be the so-called sequester, the mandatory spending cuts. both sides have tentatively agreed to delay them for a couple of months. replace them with spending cuts. it just is unclear -- they haven't come to an agreement on what those spending cuts will be and unclear if they actually will. that's why senator mcconnell is trying to push the envelope, prod them publicly to take the tax cut issue up. as you know, joe, you spent a lot of years walking these halls, the senate is one issue, but the house is another beast altogether. i actually have a democratic member of the house, the last hour we spoke to a republican, now we have -- pleased to be joined by democratic congressman sander levin. a lot of republicans, we heard it -- a parade of republicans on the senate floor saying they were upset with the president.

one said that they felt heckled by him, he was just too partisan and it was the wrong time for that. what do you make of that? >> i very much disagree. president had to lay down the marker for the present package including addressing the automatic cuts. they have to be addressed and also as to future deficits, the president made clear he laid down the marker. there have to be added revenues as well as program cuts. we have to do both. it has to be balanced. that's been the president's position all along and i think it was important that he make that clear as we proceed. so no one should be offended when the president speaks clearly. >> that's a case that you make on the substance, but i think some republicans, i know some republicans were also offended on his -- about his tone. that he was just too abrasive and sarcastic. and that it was -- >> he was pointed. when he's spoke a few days ago, he was very pointed. and they said he was

campaigning, it was political. no, he was appealing to republicans to move off of their center and peeli inappealing to public to get involved. i think the republicans should stop worrying about how pointed he is, and get to the main point, the substance. >> reporter: let's talk about the substance. there are a lot of members of congress on both sides of the aisle who are not thrilled with the outlines of this deal. that's what happens with negotiations, not everybody is happy. do you personally think that this is something you can vote for, specifically, when you're talking about those tax rates as high as $450,000 per household? >> i think it is close to what the president proposed some time ago. i haven't seen all the details. nobody has except a few. but i think there is a lower threshold for the limits on deductions. so that will increase the revenues. but i want to point out the president made it clear that as we proceed, as we look at the

deficit, they're going to have to be more revenues as well as spending cuts. there has to be balance and maybe people don't like that, there has been too much imbalance in this institution. and i think the president was right to speak very, very clearly. >> reporter: the other thing that seems to be on the table is some form of an extension of the estate tax. that's another thing that democrats are not thrilled about. tom harkin, your colleague over -- down the hall on the senate, is not happy at all that is on the table. that -- is that or anything else as far as you're concerned and many of your colleagues who you've spoken to, a deal breaker? >> i wasn't happy with what i understand is being -- being determined here. but i think they made a compromise. and so i think there will be a higher -- higher exemption, but the rate will go up somewhat from what it is today. there is a lot of money

involved. and i think the wealthy are really having it too good in terms of averages for the wealthy of this -- this economy. but i think what they're working towards is going to be acceptable. so i wouldn't prefer it but it has to be part of the overall package. and there has to be balance and i want to emphasize that there has to be addressing of the automatic cuts because it affects not only defense, but it also affects so many programs that people, millions of people in this country depend upon. >> that has to be part of the deal. >> it has to be part of the deal. >> reporter: about the moment, here we are, literally hours before this deadline. you've been in congress for -- >> 30 years. >> reporter: a few years. i wasn't going to give it away. but this kind of frankly dysfunction, a lot of people are frustrated and it is pocks on

everybody's houses. >> i think this is a dysfunction of congress. i think what has happened as i look back 30 years is that within republican ranks, it is a very different grouping. essentially there has been, as i have put it, a kind of radicalization of the house republican conference. they started off saying they weren't going to vote for any revenue increase whatsoever. and that essentially stimied us so we were not able to look at the overall package. president made it very clear, there has to be imbalance -- has to be balance. i think there has been too much imbalance, especially in the republican ranks in the house. and i hope this is a step forward. and one of the keys others have mentioned this is will the house republicans now step up to the plate on this. it is one thing for senator mcconnell to say we're going to move, will the house republicans move? if they don't, nothing is going

to happen and we're going to go over the cliff. >> reporter: thank you very much, appreciate it. joe, back to you. i should say obviously the democratic congressman is saying that republicans won't give on revenues as you well know republicans are upset at democrats for not giving enough on spending cuts. so there you have it. >> still a lot to be heard on this one, i think. thanks for that, dana bash and congressman levin. deb? forget the politics. up next, you'll hear exactly how going over the cliff affects your paycheck. and your 401(k). also it will extend unemployment benefits. as the world celebrates the new year, brooke baldwin will join me live from new orleans where folks are getting ready for a huge one of a kind party. welcome to chevy's year-end event.

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so we avoided the cliff, apparently. will you be richer? well, maybe not. tomorrow your paycheck will likely shrink with or without a fiscal cliff deal. that's because the payroll tax cut that expires tonighted amite nig -- at midnight. the 4.2% of your salary you pay into social security, that will go up to 6.2%. lawmakers have been so consumed by the fiscal cliff that it appears little was done to try to extend the 2010 payroll tax cuts put in place by president obama about two years ago to boost the economy. so what does it mean to your wallet? here is how much less you'll bring home if it does expire. paychecks shrink $50 a month for those earning $30,000 a year. it shrinks $83 a month for those earning $50,000 a year. and $167 a month for those

earning $100,000 a year or more. now, let's switch to the fiscal cliff. what that could cost you if that so-called deal in sight doesn't get done. without the deal, the potential impact, say you're single, you work hard, okay, here is what you can expect. you don't have kids. you earn about $80,000 a year. think about what you pay now. guess what, you'll pay an attentional $3,000, that's right, $3,000 more in taxes next year. if you're married with kids, yeah, doesn't get any better. the middle class families get hit hard. if you have two kids, both parents work together, you earn $80,000, well, if we do go over the cliff, you will owe almost $6,000 more in taxes next year and that is why it is so important that a deal gets done. with so much uncertainty and so many variables, the question is how is wall street reacting? the stock market dipped every day last week. so what is next? well, alison kosik is there for us at the new york stock exchange. listening to the president, he

said he was disappointed there was no grand bargain, he also sort of dissed congress a little bit. this is being put together piecemeal. the one thing, though, we haven't touched on, it appears unemployment insurance, those that affects 2 million americans, that is going to continue. what does that mean to those folks on wall street? >> reporter: well, that is good news, you know, for those on wall street because that means that you see that ripple effect. if the unemployment checks will keep coming for the people who are unemployed for a long time, they will still have money coming in, hopefully money to spend. and that helps certainly move the wheels of the economy forward. as for the broader market, you look at what is happening here, the dow is up over 100 points, after we heard from president obama after senate minority leader mitch mcconnell came out saying we are very, very close. so you're seeing this rally happen on these positive comments, coming from -- coming from washington. this really has been a session that has moved on this sort of

trickle or drip, drip, drip of the headlines coming out of washington. one thing, though, that one analyst told me, though what you're seeing traders react to right now is just sort of the headlines and that you really need to see the details of what kind of deal may or may not be worked out right now. and what this analyst told me is that what wall street really wants to see is something as close to a complete deal as possible to get a better gauge of how the market is going to react on wednesday. deb? >> so based on what you're seeing now, very quickly, it seems like very cautious right now, cautious investing today. is that fair? >> reporter: certainly. also it is the last trading day of the year. many traders are really shoring up their positions as well. but there definitely is less fear in the marketplace. we look at the vix for that, the fear index here on wall street. that's down 17%. so it is down quite a bit off of where it was just a few days ago. we have seen this fear index

rise as these negotiations have been breaking down. you're seeing that fear go down, but the real wild card here, deb, is going to be in the details. what really -- what kind of deal is this going to be? a partial deal, a complete deal? >> nobody knows exactly what that deal will look like. alison kosik, thank you so much. movements ago, russia and dubai celebrating the new year. there you go. take a look. everybody loves fireworks. who doesn't like fireworks? folks are gearing up in the united states, that includes new orleans, where our own brooke baldwin is standing by for tonight's special coverage. and stay with us. because she wants to talk to you. my name is sergeant caleb brown. i would like to say happy holidays and i love you to my wife, stephanie brown, my family in roseburg, oregon. love you guys. see you soon.

okay, everyone. it is time to forget about the fiscal cliff negotiations. at least for just a moment. why? because, yes, the rest of the world is in fact ringing in the new year. ♪

♪ >> three, two, one, happy new year! ♪ ♪ should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? ♪ ♪ should auld acquaintance be forgot ♪ ♪ and days of auld lang syne? and days of auld lang syne my dear and days of auld lang syne ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ a couple of places where people's problems were so last year. back home, they're preparing for the countdown to the stroke of midnight in new york's times

square. new yorkers may have some competition on their hands from the folks down south in new orleans. our brooke baldwin is there. and, brooke, you are getting ready for a big party. what is it like? >> i like that. we're going to give the new york little competition. happy almost new year and happy almost new year to everyone watching. let me set the scene for you. i know you can't see what i'm looking at. but it is a gorgeous picture. so i'm sitting basically in the midst of the french quarter. so to my left you have beautiful jackson square. to my right, the mighty mississippi river, blue skies here. it is picture perfect for what will be a huge, huge celebration. so i'm sitting atop jack's brewery right now, just behind me this is what you'll see on tv tonight, we'll be coming to you live for midnight, both eastern and central time, you get the fleur-de-lis drop, baby new year which i don't even know how to describe this, if you don't know in new orleans, it is the amazing tradition, found this

baby floating post katrina, it is part of the celebration. imagine, deb, you have new orleans which i'm sure you've been here, it is crazy and you don't sleep and you party all night anyway. take that, add new year's eve, add the sugar bowl, and you have probably -- they're estimating some 50,000 people. just quickly, i'll be down here in the french quarter, with, you know, the rest of the crew, and different parts of the country, ringing in the new year with kathy and anderson. i won't be ready to go to bed. i'm going to keep the party moving and grooving until midnight central time. so we hope you -- we hope you stay up and watch. you're going to, right? >> to ttally, brooke. if there is anybody we want to party with, it is you, brooke baldwin. thank you so much. if you don't have plans yet, you definitely should join brooke and all of us in new orleans for the 2013 countdown tonight. of course, anderson coopecooper

comedian kathy griffin live from new york. cnn's special coverage starts at 10:00 eastern. just moments ago, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell announced a deal was very close in the fiscal cliff negotiations. what's in, what's out, our own wolf blitzer joins us next. tyeah, its the galaxy note ii.re great. you can do two things at the same time. you can watch videos and text. or you could watch the earnings report and take notes, like we're supposed to. so... can i get it? yeah. okay either of you put together the earnings report yet? yes, me totally. what? why don't you tackle the next quarter. you eat yet? polynesian? pu pu platter? yup! keep up the good work. i will keep up the good work. do more with the new samsung galaxy note ii.

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try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. the world is rolooking to washington to see if congress reaches a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. senator mitch mcconnell spoke on the senate floor.

>> i can report that we have reached an agreement on all of the tax -- the tax issues. we are very, very close. as the president just said, the most important piece, the piece that has to be done now, is preventing the tax hikes. >> in just the last hour, the president said a deal is, quote, within sight and that he himself is willing to make the hard choices to avoid $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax hikes. wolf blitzer joining me now. wolf, you've been with these kinds of negotiations before. when you look at this thing, do you think the can is just getting kicked down the road? in some ways it seems we're only getting a down payment here if that on the bigger issue of deficit reduction. >> and you're absolutely right, joe. the president himself acknowledged that he wanted a big deal, a big picture deal if

you will, couldn't achieve that with the leadership in congress. so they're going to do it in stages. they're going to do it in various parts. they are kicking some very sensitive issues down the road over the next few months. the republicans are happy about that, because they think they have some excellent leverage coming up in february and march when they have to pass legislation, raising the nation's debt ceiling and they think that will be enormous pressure that they will have on the president. once again, just as they did this summer of 2011, to get what they want as far as taxes, spending cuts are concerned. so they -- the kicking the can down the road, to a certain degree, if you don't deal with raising the debt limit right now, that's going to be good for the republicans, going to have a little more leverage down the road. but they're not getting that full picture deal that so many people were looking forward to. they only had a year and a half to do it, joe. they waited until after the election these last few weeks, obviously. couldn't do it. trying to run

out the clock. >> all of this really started even before august of 2011. that was when we first started talking about the debt ceiling as a real problem for this government. now it seems like we're in the position where we could fight over these issues for, you know, a year or two years. do you think that's good for the economy? >> the economy wants some stability. they want to know what tax rates are going to be -- are going to be. they want to know where the spending cuts are going to come from, which defense industries, for example, are going to lose federal money in terms of defense spending. they want to know what is going to happen to medicare and social security. they want that predictability, that gives them the confidence to go ahead and expand, to create jobs, and do what big business tries to do all the time. certainly that involves small businesses as well. they don't like the uncertainty and that's what we have right now, by kicking the can down the road, even if there is a short-term deal that will allow

98 or 98% of american families to not see an income tax increase, which is looking like it is going to be the case, it is still going to be -- it is still going to be kicking the can down the road over the next few months to get other parts of this arrangement done. we'll see what happens, but it is ugly, as you know, watching this legislative process go, joe. you've covered congress for a long time. you don't want to necessarily see how it is done. it is being done right now. i'm hoping there will be a senate vote in the next few hours. and we'll see if the senate passes, which i assume they will. and then it will go to the house of representatives, probably tomorrow, and we'll see what the house of representatives does. >> all right, wolf, i'll be watching you and the "situation room" at the top of the hour. ali velshi, you have an interesting interview coming up. what's on tap? >> we have a whole bunch of republicans who have signed that anti-tax pledge to grover norquist. i'm going to talk to one who is refeudiated that pledge. he thinks we have got work to do and pledges are not the business of government. when we come back on your money,

i'll talk to ohio representative congressman steve latourette. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

washington finally seems ready to ring in the new year with a deal that averts the fiscal cliff. it only has taken 517 days to reach this point. what a waste of time. from the cnn money newsroom in new york, i'm ali velshi. this is your money. with only hours to go, president

obama says a deal between democrats and republicans is, quote, within reach as america ticks closer to the fiscal cliff at midnight. >> they are close, but they're not there yet. and one thing we can count on with respect to this congress is that if there is even one second left before you have to do what you're supposed to do, they will use that last second. >> duown to the wire. if you thought the fiscal cliff snuck up on congress, the debt ceiling bill that triggered this to begin with was signed into law in 2011. we have known from that day forward this day would be upon us if nothing was done. and everyone in congress has known all along what it would take to avert the blanket tax hikes and spending cuts that are mandated to start in the new year. how much time is that, by the way? 517 days, or you can call it one year, four months and 29 days, or 73 weeks or 12,408 hours. you get the point.

your political leader is engrossed in a colossal waste of time. the tax cuts were enacted for ten years starting in 2001 and then extended in 2010 for another two years, so we have had exactly 12 years notice on that front. this should not be happening. even with all that time, the best hope we are left with is a puny tiny partial deal that averts tax hikes for the majority of taxpayers. the sequester, which is a stupid name for a stupid thing, which results in mandatory cuts that nobody wants, looks like the decision will be kicked down the road to be dealt with at another time. at the last second, i'm sure. no one knows more about congressional dysfunction than congressman steve latourette, a republican from ohio. he chose not to seek another term in the house, specifically because of the polarization in washington. like most republicans, he signed a pledge when he first took office to never vote to increase taxes under any circumstances. that was a pledge to grover norquist or by grover norquist's

organization. he's turned his back on the pledge, peddled by grover norquist and his powerful lobby group, americans for tax reform. latourette says all options need to be on the table to avert a fiscal cliff. he joins us now. congressman latourette it looks like republicans are ready to raise rates on individuals making 400,000 aids ye$400,000 . is that the kind of compromise you had expected to take place? >> no, this is disgusting, quite frankly. and dysfunctional. latourette, by the way, in french, means dysfunctional. i'm used to it. i'll tell you that we find ourselves here after the 73 months that you talked about, and this is as good as it is going to get, it is really ridiculous and everybody here should be hanging their head in shame. >> we feel the same way. we got this fiscal cliff mess as a result of being up against the government's borrowing limit, the debt ceiling in august of

2011. we are expected to hit that debt limit again today. the treasury department says it can keep on paying the bills for a short period of time it can find $200 billion through extraordinary measure. the way it was handled last time resulted in the usa losing its aaa credit rating for first time in history. this is not going to be up to you, sir. up to a new congress that you're not going to be part of to avert another debacle on that front. give me some sense of your optimism of how this will be handled going forward. in other words, have your new colleagues in congress learned anything from this experience? >> no. think it is unreasonable to hand this off to the new guys who some of them have never served an elected office before. and to think they're going to come riding in here on horses and somehow solve something that we haven't been able to solve for years, is a little bit unfair to them and more than a little unrealistic. >> what is your advice for them what is your advice for the new congress. you didn't finish the job as well as you would have liked to. they're going to be handed over the situation and i suspect

we'll be talking about budgetary matters and debt matters for a long time. what is your best advice to them. >> untwe're going to continue t have this problem. this requires a big solution, it requires paying on everybody's side, on the republican side taxes will have to be increased. there is going to have to be more revenues. and on the democratic side, they're going to have to come to the realization that two-thirds of the budge set tied up in the middle class entitlements and unless you make some reforms, of programs that were created in the 30s and 50s, we're going to continue to go over cliff after cliff after cliff. >> congressman steve latourette, thank you for the work you've tried to do to get a deal on this whole thing and we wish you the best in your post congressional life. steve latourette, republican from ohio. that's it for now. you are and we'll wriring in the new year

together with some breaking news later. i'm out.

sunday marked the end of the nfl's regular season. the day after usually isn't too kind to head coaches on losing teams. even a winning record cannot guarantee a job security these days. yes, it has been a firing frenzy today on the nfl's so-called black monday. seven coaches got their pink slips, most before 11:00 a.m. eastern.

the most shocking, lovie smith. he's getting the boot after nine seasons, which included a trip to the super bowl. his team finished 10-6, but missed the playoffs. bears quarterback jay cutler got the news during a live radio show. the kansas city chiefs parted ways with romeo crennel after his team struggled through a two-win season that was marred by the murder/suicide involving linebacker jovan belcher. other notable names, eagles coach andy reid, chan gailey, ken whisenhunt, pat shurmur, norv turner and, well, front office jobs around the league, they're not safe today either. the jets, cardinals, chargers, jaguars, and browns have all let their general managers go. well, if you're still looking for a new year's resolution, consider trying something completely new. you can pay for things with your cell phone. he likes to take chances in the hopes of opening his mind to

creativity. here is a preview of this week's "the next list." >> i don't actually sit down and come up with an idea. basically i try to free my mind from distractions. and then my mind wanders and wanders on to problems. i'm trying to be creative, i try to relax and try to do things that make me think differently. travel is wonderful. putting myself in uncomfortable positions is a great way to generate ideas. this is very hard to shape glass. it is takes years of practice. it is difficult. every time i come into the studio, i got some sort of new challenge and something that i would like to learn how to do better and material never disappoints me. my job is to shape it and balance it at the same time. you can do that, you get these wonderful shapes. glass really rewards risk. >> jim is sort of this renaissance guy. whatever he tries to do, he does exceedingly well. he perfects.

he also has a gift for musician. has a gift for art or more than a gift, a passion. like a lot of things, trying to find a better job can be frustrating. so at university of phoenix we're working with a growing list of almost two thousand corporate partners - companies like microsoft, american red cross and adobe - to create options for you. not only that, we're using what we learn from these partners to shape our curriculum, so that when you find the job you want you'll be a perfect fit. let's get to work.

secretary of state hillary clinton is being treated at new york presbyterian hospital

for a blood clot. the clot was discovered during a follow-up examine for a concussion she suffered last month. she will stay in the hospital at least for 48 hours. chief medical correspondent dr. gupta has more. >> first off, we don't know exactly where this blood clot is. they say it's somewhere in her body, unrelated to the concussion. there's a key point here. that is, they've decided to treat this with blood thinners or anti-coagulants. that's important, because if this were a blood clot actually sitting on top of the brain, because of the brain injury, the concussion, blood thinners would be the last thing you'd probably want to do. it could worsen the bleeding and would prevent her from having an operation if it's necessary. again, no one is saying if that's the case here. blood clots that are treated with blood thinners or anti-coagulants are typically ones found in the blood vessels, the veins specifically. you may have heard of a deep

vein thrombosis. that's a blood clot that can form in the leg. that can be concerning, because it can break off and possibly go to the lung, known as a pulmonary embolembolism. we know she'll be in the hospital for two days. we know she's getting blood thinning medications. they'll make sure she's well hydrated. then up walking around. this is a common thing. for the secretary of state, it's actually even more so, because she's had this before, back in 1998. so we'll keep an eye on things, deb. if things come to us, we'll certainly bring them to you. >> okay, dr. sanjay gupta, thanks. "the hunger games," "james bond," "lincoln," what did they have in common? all big blockbusters. a record breaking year. details of that just ahead. [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze...

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so it turns out movie ticket sales hit a record this year. great movies out. alison kosik joining us with the latest information. what's coming up, alison? >> reporter: it was a huge year at the box office. a record $10.8 billion in tickets just this year. with the total number of tickets sold rising for the first time in three years. a big reason for it was because it was a big year for blockbuster movies. look at "the avengers." morehan $620 million in sales in the u.s. alone. also helping, "the hobbit," "the dark knight rises" and

"skyfall," a pretty good pic i saw. theaters have switched to digital projectors which helps them move to extra screens to meet the demand. also social media builds up a big buzz behind these films. that's driven more people to the box office than in previous years. that's been a good thing for shares of movie studios and movie chains. lions gate which owns "the hunger games" franchise, lions gate has seen its stock price almost double this year. >> sort of an impact did it have on more movies on more screens? it just means there were more showings. that clearly had to have an impact. >> yeah, just think about it. when you're going to see a movie, if you have more choices of where and what times to go, you're more likely to get out there and go see one. i know if the time's not accommodating for my schedule,

i'm not going to go see a movie. so that really helps. i think social media also helped quite a bit. twitter, facebook, you know, you sort of feel that, you see everybody else enjoying these films and you think, hey, i'm going to catch that flick, it looks good. >> i'm so far behind on my movie going. i have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks. >> a lot of good ones out there. >> alison kosik, thank you. other stories developing, venezuelan president chavez is suffering from new complications as he recovers from cancer surgery. his vice president announced the medical setback after visiting him in cuba. no word whether he'll be able to return to his country for the start of the new six-year term on january 10th. and new details about the deadly attack in libya that killed a u.s. ambassador and three other americans. a bipartisan senate report released today gives a scathing assessment of the state department's failure to protect

the consulate in benghazi. watch what ranking member of the committee susan collins had to say. >> the terrorists essentially walked into the compound virtually unimpeded and set it ablaze due to extremely poor security. in a threat environment that the undersecretary of state, patrick kennedy himself, has conceded was flashing red. >> another big finding, the committee says the department relied too heavily on libyan security guards who were known to be unreliable. this report comes after a similar scathing assessment by an independent state department board which led to a top security official and three others at the department stepping down. a charter bus crash in northern oregon has killed nine people and injured at least 26 more. the bus skidded on ice, crashed through a guardrail and then